We envision a Connecticut where everyone—regardless of race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status—can achieve optimal health. To make this a reality, we focus on four areas that are critical to ensuring that the next generation will not face the same persistent racial and ethnic health disparities.

Change comes from many different approaches. It can be through a grant that identifies a new way to deliver care, policy research that identifies a solution to a pressing problem, or leadership that fosters change.

Inequities are a huge part of the story of health care in Connecticut. We strive to be a key resource in helping people understand and explore the complex health care system, the disparities that exist, and potential solutions.

We focus on improving health outcomes for people of color and ensuring that all Connecticut residents have access to affordable and high-quality care. Through public policy, grantmaking, and leadership development, we work to make lasting changes that improve lives.

Community Advisory Committee

The community advisory committee serves as the foundation’s eyes and ears in the community. Members provide input on existing initiatives and ideas for future programs.

ARUNAN ARALAMPALAM, JD

Arunan Aralampalam is an associate in Updike, Kelly & Spellacy’s Hartford office. He practices in the areas of health care, public finance, and business law. Prior to law school at Quinnipiac University, where he was lead articles and notes editor of the Quinnipiac Health Law Journal, he served on a number of political campaigns.

LINDA BARRY, MD, FACS

Linda Barry is a board certified surgeon and an Assistant Professor of Surgery at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine. She also serves as Assistant Director and COO of the Connecticut Institute for Clinical and Translational Science (CICATS) at the University of Connecticut and is Director of the Young Innovative Investigator Program (YIIP). In addition to her clinical work, Linda is the Co-managing Editor of the Journal of Racial and Ethnic Disparities, a publication that reports on the scholarly progress of work to understand, address, and ultimately eliminate health disparities based on race and ethnicity. She is a graduate of the foundation’s Health Leadership Fellows program.

GENEA O. BELL

Genea O. Bell, Esq., is the Chief Legal and Human Resources Officer for Community Health Services (CHS), Inc., a federally qualified health center in Hartford. Prior to joining CHS, she worked in private practice counseling and advocating for corporations, quasi-public agencies, and not‐for‐profit organizations across various industries on a wide range of labor and employment and other matters. Genea serves as a Trustees of The Hartt School at the University of Hartford and, in 2015, she was appointed by Governor Malloy as an attorney member of the Connecticut Judicial Review Council. She is also the immediate past president of the George W. Crawford Black Bar Association. Genea received a B.Mus. from The Juilliard School and an M.S. in Elementary Education from the College of Staten Island of the City University of New, York. She earned her J.D. from the University Of Connecticut School of Law. Prior to attending law school, Ms. Bell was a professional classical violist and a fifth grade teacher in Brooklyn, NY.

THOMAS BUCKLEY, MPH, RPH

Thomas Buckley is an associate clinical professor of pharmacy practice at the University of Connecticut School of Pharmacy. His research interests include the intersection of pharmacy and public health. Building on extensive global work in southeast Asia, he has formed successful partnerships with community based organizations in Connecticut in order to provide culturally and linguistically competent trauma-informed care to southeast Asian refugees and immigrants.

DIANA CARDONA, DMD

Diana Cardona is a dentist and the Dental Director of the Montefiore Medical Center, Community Pediatric Programs in the Bronx, New York. In her role as director, she oversees the dental care provided to adult and pediatric homeless, family shelter, and domestic violence shelter residents as well as community residents of the South Bronx Health Center and the Center for Child Health and Resiliency. Prior to working in New York, she worked as a general dentist in Bridgeport and Norwalk, providing comprehensive dental care to community residents. Diana is a graduate of the foundation’s Health Leadership Fellows Program.

CATINA CABAN-OWEN, PHD, MSW

Catina Caban-Owen is a social worker at North Windham Elementary School. She is also an adjunct faculty member in the department of social work at Eastern Connecticut State University. She is part of Hartford HealthCare’s eastern region board of directors. She is a graduate of the foundation’s Health Leadership Fellows program. She holds a doctorate in social work from the University of Connecticut School of Social Work. In 2016 and 2017 she was awarded the Hartford Courant Town Hero Award, ECSU Faculty Community Engagement Award, and the Victoria L. Soto Memorial Award for deep concern for children and for continuing a tradition of mentoring excellence for many years for two girls in Windham.

TIANA HERCULES

Tiana Hercules is the Project Manager at Project Longevity-Hartford. She is also an attorney and spent three years working at the Center for Medicare Advocacy where she provided legal representation and advocacy for Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries. Tiana is a graduate of the foundation’s Health Leadership Fellows program.

NANCY KINGWOOD, MS

The Reverend Nancy Kingwood, MS, is Deputy Director of HIV Services for Greater Bridgeport Area Prevention Program (GBAPP), Inc., where she supervises a multi-disciplinary staff, providing outreach education to social service agencies and faith organizations. She is also the founder and visionary of the Nia Alliance for People of Color, which aims to reduce substance abuse and HIV/AIDS in communities of color in the Bridgeport area under the Ashe Faith Project, for which she is the Project Director. Kingwood holds two degrees in Human Services and a Master’s Degree in Human Services with a concentration in Organizational Management and Leadership from Springfield College. She is a 2010 graduate and class president of the Black Ministries Program at Hartford Seminary.

MARILYN ONDRASIK

Marilyn Ondrasikis a consultant working to expand Future First to the United States. Future First is a successful career readiness program in the U.K. that helps public high schools recruit their alumni to be successful role models and to provide college readiness and career guidance. Previously, Ondrasik served as the Executive Director of the Bridgeport Child Advocacy Coalition (BCAC) for 17 years. BCAC is dedicated to improving the lives of children through research, advocacy and community mobilization, and works on health, education, early childhood, and poverty issues. She has also worked as Director of Research and Development for Greater Bridgeport Community Enterprises to develop new green businesses with a triple bottom line of environmental sustainability, social good by hiring hard-to-employ populations, and urban economic development.

VALERIANO RAMOS JR.

Valeriano Ramos Jr. is the Director of Strategic Alliances and Equity Officer for Everyday Democracy in East Hartford. As Equity Officer, he works on fostering an organizational culture that values and promotes diversity, inclusion, and racial and ethnic equity. Before coming to Everyday Democracy, he was director of constituent services under former Connecticut Secretary of the State Susan Bysiewicz. He has also worked with the Latino/Hispanic community in Connecticut for many years including Tu Voto Si Cuenta, Yale College, Guakia, Inc., and the Connecticut Association for United Spanish Action (C.A.U.S.A.). He holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Yale University and a master’s degree in politics from New York University.

REBECCA SANTIAGO, RN, BSN

Rebecca Santiago is a registered nurse and the Community Healthcare Navigator for the Curtis D. Robinson Men’s Health Institute at St. Francis Hospital and Medical Center in Hartford. In her role, Rebecca strives to ensure that patients do not fall through the cracks as a result of fragmentation between health care providers, the hospital and community-based services. She has extensive experience serving on numerous advisory councils and nonprofit boards and is a graduate of the foundation’s Health Leadership Fellows program.

AMOS L. SMITH

Amos L. Smith is the President and CEO at the Community Action Agency of New Haven, Inc., (CAANH), a position he has held since May 2006. Smith is trained as a Results Based Accountability coach with The Annie E. Casey Foundation. He is currently the President of the New England Community Action Partnership and Vice President of the Connecticut Association for Community Action. Prior to his work at CAANH, Smith was the Director of Health Grantmaking and previously, Director of Program at The Community Foundation for Greater New Haven.

ARTHUR L. SPERLING, DMD

Arthur L. Sperling, DMD, is an oral maxillofacial surgeon who practiced in the Hartford area for more than 40 years before retiring from clinical practice. He is currently an Associate Professor of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery at the University of Connecticut Health Center. Sperling was one of Connecticut Health Foundation’s founding board members. He majored at Tufts University in physics and biochemistry and later earned his DMD from Tufts. Sperling’s post graduate specialty training was completed at Harvard University in conjunction with his residency at Massachusetts General Hospital.